“I made sure you started the day properly satisfied. Don’t tell me you already forgot.”
“Hmm, I might need you to jog my memory a bit.”
“Join me in the shower? I’ve been out here all day, messing with this bike and your car. I’m filthy.”
“I noticed,” she said with a slow smile. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”
“Is that right?” Maybe she recognized the mischief in my voice because her eyes went wide, and she attempted to wriggle away, but I was faster. Snatching her from the hood, I tossed her over my shoulder and ran inside as she laughed in my arms.
33
Ialready knew who was on the other side of my door without having seen the surveillance footage. Having arrived from his trip late last night, Rocco had been texting and calling me nonstop, but I wasn’t in the headspace to deal with him or whatever he had going on. I should have known better. Known he was bound to come around sooner than I was ready. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he could somehow be involved in the recent attempts on my life and against our family. Threats on our lives and livelihoods weren’t anything new, but something about this seemed personal. I didn’t want to believe that my childhood friend, the man who had grown up like one of my brothers, whether he saw me that way or not, had orchestrated the chaos of the last few weeks.
“So you are alive?”
“Surprised or disappointed,” I asked, casually leaning on the doorframe but ready to react if the need arose.
One of his eyes narrowed, jaw twitching as he regarded me. “Is that really what you think? That I’m behind everything that’s happened?”
“I didn’t say that. But it’s a little telling when you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Rocco chuckled and attempted to let himself inside, but I extended my arm, blocking him. He froze and stared at me like I’d sprouted an extra head.
“Muñeca, you can’t possibly be serious. Me? You think I did this to you?”
For a second, my heart plummeted. Rocco wasn’t the type of man who showed emotions or made attachments, but something in his eyes told me my accusation had stung.
“Roc, you have to understand where I’m coming from.” I put a finger to his chest. “You were the first to know about the ambush at my father’s warehouse. The one who put together and coordinated the retaliation at the compound.”
“Bullshit. I chose a random day and time when I knew they’d be there.”
“Only they weren’t, at least not how we expected. Instead, they were waiting for us. They knew exactly the moment we’d breach the facility. That can’t be a coincidence. And how convenient for you to leave the wedding reception just before all hell breaks loose.”
He balled his fists and punched the wall. I’d be lying to myself if I denied the sliver of fear that crept up the back of my neck at his sudden rage.
“Dammit, Amalia. You think I’d send you into a death trap? And hire men to kill you on your wedding day?”
I removed my arm from the frame and positioned myself in the doorway. “A month ago, I would have said no. But today, things are different.”
“Of course they are, aren’t they? There’s a new man in your life, and you can’t have old friends putting a damper on that. So, it’s easier to blindly throw accusations. Did he put these thoughts in your head?”
“Since when do I base my thoughts and actions on someone else’s judgment?”
“I don’t know you anymore. The you from one month ago would have never ignored my calls or accused me of trying to harm you.”
There it was again—the pain in his eyes. But I couldn’t let emotions blind me. I had to think logically, and all of it added up—as much as it hurt.
Rocco extended his arms at his sides defensively. “So, what now? What isLa reinagoing to do? Kill me?”
Again, he raised a good point. He would have already been bleeding out on the ground at my feet had he been anyone else, even with the doubts clouding my brain. But this was Rocco, and even with the evidence stacked against him, a little voice at the back of my thoughts told me to wait.
It was stupid, and maybe I was holding on to that little girl and the boy who had once been her best friend, but—
Rocco’s hands were suddenly cutting off my air supply, his eyes crazed and unrecognizable. He shoved me against the metal door, the impact painful as my head spun.
“I had our whole future planned out,muñeca. You and I would have been so perfect. We could have burned the whole fucking world to the ground and made it better. Just you and me.El rey y la reina.”
I clawed at his hands, the need to breathe taking over rational thought, but Rocco was unfazed and dragged me through the doorway, closing it behind us and away from security and other staff.
